Artificial Grass anyone?

No not for me, I love my lawn and so do the birds.

No no no hate the stuff it doesn’t look real it look like artificial grass too bright too much of a green plastic carpet I always reminds me if a snooker table
No insects no birds no worms no help to the environment

When we were selling our last house one couple who viewed it said that they were very glad it had a natural lawn because they had artificial grass at the house they were trying to sell and two dogs and the artificial lawn smelt awful because the dogs urinated on it. Put me off ever having artificial grass.

One of my daughters has a pocket handkerchief sized garden with 2 children, and 2 dogs.

Artificial grass allows them to all play out all year without turning into a muddy quagmire. They surround their tiny garden with pots or flowers and fruit and veggies.

For practical reasons it suits their lifestyle and they do their best to keep bees, birds and insects happy.

NOT for me- a total disaster for all wildlife. People have concreted or paved front gardens, got rid of hedges, and now artificial grass. I despair.

No! No!
Ghastly, not environmentally friendly, what about birds, hedgehogs, worms, bugs, etc and ( bottom line) frankly a bit tacky.

Absolutely Not!!

In fact, some of us round here are leaving part of our lawns to 'go wild' and it is interesting what lovely weeds flowers are growing, attracting bees and other pollinating insects.

It doesn't look uncared for, because the rest of the grass is mown.

Not for me either. I can understand using it on postage stamp gardens to prevent the 'lawn' just being a muddy patch or, perhaps, on a small roof garden. I like to see the daisies (even the dandelions) and the bees, butterflies, hedgehogs - and molehills! We keep one part of our garden, under some trees, for 'wild flowers' - mostly grasses and forget-me-knots - and cut it when everyhting has seeded.
As you say, MawBroonsback, it seems a bit tacky.

One of my neighbours has just had it done and it looks awful. He spent a lot of money on it, but you can see the join line, lumps and bumps.

Artificial grass might look good (from a distance) but I prefer my grass and so do the birds in the garden.
How could you fool a blackbird into searching for worms on a bit of non recyclable plastic!

Horrible and where do the worms go?. Do you use a brush or a vacuum cleaner on it?

No, we are becoming aware of the damage plastic does to the environment and we need to try to avoid it and accept an imperfect natural alternative. It may make our lives a little easier now but that stuff will be clogging up the ground or the waterways in 500 years time (if the planet is still surviving).

My next door neighbour was having his monoblock repaired earlier. Unfortunately his next door neighbour has artificial grass and the silica sand has blown all over the artificial turf. The not so happy neighbour, with a face like thunder, is out with a brush sweeping his grass.

Noooooo. The real deal or nothing at all.

Oh, so artificial turf is ‘tacky’ is it? Well, unfortunately, some of us do not have the luxury of the real stuff, so we make do.

In Malta, where I’ve lived for nearly 40 years, not a lot of people have real lawns because it costs a fortune to water them.

I downsized to a small maisonette, which I love, but it has a yard rather than a garden. I put artificial turf on one end of it to make it look nicer, plus it is cooler for the dog to lie on than hot tiles. As for being tacky, it was as expensive as a good quality carpet, and Marydoll, I run the Dyson over mine!

That's a brilliant idea Bellasnanna ! I'll let my neighbour know! He is not a happy bunny at the moment.

Not for me, either, but I can see why others use it.
Is it hot underfoot on a day like today and does it smell plastic when hot? What happens when it gets old, is it biodegradable?
I love the smell of newly mown grass and the cool touch on bare feet.

We have real grass at the front of the house and fake at the back..its boggy and we've spent several thousands of pound over the years on specialist companies who claim they can fix it . We've planted trees and more trees and a whole hedge of Leylandi There have been drainage systems fitted and different ones 2 years later and then yet more ...and repeat .So we gave up and got fake grass.The wee ones have been able to play on it without sinking up to the ankles in mud.I don't care who thinks its tacky ,it works for us

Oh shock horror I must be ‘tacky’ as well I have two real lawns and one artificial. I don’t think artificial grass is ‘ghastly’ at all. It’s practical and a good clean space for my grandchildren to play.

Noooo real grass all day long, Mr.Gravy is “obsessed” with the lawn, it keeps our from under my feet!!!!

Essential for wildlife, we do not need anymore plastic in this world!!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/medium-476530-ecf64e9c-c1f3-4d53-8ade-6598e500a34e.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/medium-557789-cfaa34a7-1a65-4b7f-96ea-28da0de5ae67.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201906/medium-779978-e1abf97f-0920-4487-808a-6088f443510c.jpeg

I wasn’t going to join in, as when we first had artificial grass installed, I came in for a bit of ear bashing. So yes, I suppose we can be called tacky. But, we had it installed, because we couldn’t cope with the maintenance of a real lawn any more.
Also, there is a dearth of folk who will come and cut grass around here, or do any garden jobs for that matter.
It has been a godsend. The garden always looks good, OK, so it’s a bit greener, (as in colour) than turf in the hot weather, but we have been really pleased with our decision.
Yes, it can get hot to walk on in bare feet, and no, we don’t have any animals to use it as a loo!
Our grandchildren and great grandchildren can play out side in all weathers, if they want to, and we still get birds in the garden, and the odd cat.

Ooh, Auntieflo, your garden looks gorgeous! I’m not bothered about what others think, each to their own, but I don’t think people need to be snooty about it either.

Wow that looks great Auntieflo I can't believe that's artificial. Someone over the road from us has artificial grass and it's really plasticy looking.

Beautiful garden Auntieflo?